Tag: pro-life

Last week, the (developed) world held its breath for the birth of the new British baby whom we now know is a princess. And all the while, life kept happening…

Last week, the (developed) world held its breath for the birth of the new British baby whom we now know is a princess. And all the while, life kept happening for everyone in the world. There were joys, struggles, suffering, death, and more joys. Everyday life.

But I couldn’t get over the stark contrast in which Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was welcomed at the same time that Francesca Marina, the daughter of a Nigerian refugee, was born on an Italian naval ship. I’d post her picture – she’s simply glorious – but so far I can’t find one that has an open copyright; so be sure to click here.

Her mother was in labor when they were rescued from an overcrowded boat of refugees in the Mediterranean. The article states that Francesca Marina was the sixth child to be born on a navy vessel since 2013.

And while I don’t generally find myself in the camp of nominalists, the images of both baby girls reminded me of Shakespeare’s lines –

What’s in a name? that which we call a roseBy any other name would smell as sweet;

Neither girl was able to choose the circumstances of her birth. Both bear witness to triumph in a disposable culture. Yes, more fuss was made about the royal birth than is to my liking; but there’s also something striking in the fact that this child had a significant portion of the world so focused on her birth. Seeing the pictures of the two babies reminded me yet again that every child, born and unborn, is a princess or a prince in the eyes of God. May our eyes be as his.

Los Angeles knows how to do a pro-life walk/rally. After oh-so-many freezing (but, of course worth it!) Marches for Life in DC and Olympia, WA, it was almost surreal to…

Probably my favorite sign, not to mention so very timely. (Photo – Pia de Solenni.)

Los Angeles knows how to do a pro-life walk/rally. After oh-so-many freezing (but, of course worth it!) Marches for Life in DC and Olympia, WA, it was almost surreal to be at a pro-life gathering with warm sunshine instead of snow, rain, and whatever other chilling effects of weather that exist.

70 degrees. Sunscreen. Sunglasses. Sitting on the grass. In the sunshine. Saturday, January 17.

Aside from the spectacular weather, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, in its first ever pro-life rally commemorating Roe, pulled together an event that – to my mind – looked a lot more like what the pro-life movement should look like. The event, OneLife LA, emphasized many aspects of “embracing the beauty and dignity of every human life.” In other words, if we say we’re pro-life, then we care about the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized, the lonely, the homeless, and everyone. Throughout the event, the Archdiocese featured various projects that support life in so many different ways. I think this helps the movement a lot. It helps us to understand better our values and ideals, hopefully doing more hands-on work to put them into practice. And it certainly evades the tired Jane Fonda-esque criticism that pro-lifers only care about babies until they’re born and out of the womb.

The other aspect that made this event unique – yes, aside from the sunshine – was that the attendees looked representative of Los Angeles. In other words, we weren’t all white. Most urban areas are very ethnically diverse, but that seldom seems obvious when it comes to city-based pro-life events. This march looked less like suburbia had bused itself in to participate, and much more authentically LA. While it is certainly a welcome thing that people travel to participate in marches and I don’t want to discourage such participation in any way, when the local community makes its pro-life feelings known, that’s a powerful witness…

With immigration being such a looming and divisive issue, I took a lot of comfort in seeing the Latino population represented. I don’t want to get into an immigration debate, but there are several realities to keep in mind, not least of which include the following:

We are a nation of immigrants. That’s our history. It’s who we are. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…”

Our economy relies on the current immigration population. If you don’t believe that, do a little research and see what has happened when the US government has cracked down on immigration.

Ironic that Roe v. Wade was decided in the weeks after we celebrate the birth of God made man. (Photo – Pia de Solenni)

I like seeing our various populations/ethnic groups/socio-economic groups represented and active in society, particularly on issues that are important to them. Democracy doesn’t work when people don’t participate.

While such an event clearly took a lot of work from many, many people, including the ever faithful Knights of Columbus, I understand that the leadership came from Kathleen Domingo, the Archdiocese’s Life Coordinator and Carolina Guevara, Chief Communications Officer. Given the results, it’s hard to believe that this was their first attempt at such a major production.

David Bereit, the head of 40 Days, gave a great presentation at the earlier rally. The idea of the following conference was to motivate people who want to do more in the pro-life movement. David has a very succinct way of giving context to the abortion issue in California.

The top causes of death in California each year –

Abortion – 181,730 (This is only the number of people killed directly by abortion, not women who die as a direct result of their abortion or as a result of post-abortion effects.)

Cardiovascular Disease – 58,034

Cancer – 56,124

Puts things in perspective, no?

All the more reason why our pro-life events need to be a representative as possible of our local communities, including urban areas.

On Saturday, Pope Francis gave an address to the Association of Italian Catholic Doctors on the occasion of the organization’s 70th anniversary. For those who have been pondering whether…

Source: Google Images – Licensed for Reuse

On Saturday, Pope Francis gave an address to the Association of Italian Catholic Doctors on the occasion of the organization’s 70th anniversary.

For those who have been pondering whether the Pope is still Catholic, still pro-life, etc., I recommend it. And it’s a good read regardless. In particular, his emphasis that medical ethics is not about religion or philosophy. It’s about science:

The dominant thinking sometimes suggests a “false compassion”, that which believes that it is: helpful to women to promote abortion; an act of dignity to obtain euthanasia; a scientific breakthrough to “produce” a child and to consider it to be a right rather than a gift to welcome; or to use human lives as guinea pigs presumably to save others. Instead, the compassion of the Gospel is that which accompanies in times of need, that is, the compassion of the Good Samaritan, who “sees”, “has compassion”, approaches and provides concrete help (cf. Lk 10:33). Your mission as doctors puts you in daily contact with many forms of suffering. I encourage you to take them on as “Good Samaritans”, caring in a special way for the elderly, the infirm and the disabled. Fidelity to the Gospel of life and respect for life as a gift from God sometimes require choices that are courageous and go against the current, which in particular circumstances, may become points of conscientious objection. And this fidelity entails many social consequences. We are living in a time of experimentation with life. But a bad experiment. Making children rather than accepting them as a gift, as I said. Playing with life. Be careful, because this is a sin against the Creator: against God the Creator, who created things this way. When so many times in my life as a priest I have heard objections: “But tell me, why the Church is opposed to abortion, for example? Is it a religious problem?” No, no. It is not a religious problem. “Is it a philosophical problem?” No, it is not a philosophical problem. It’s a scientific problem, because there is a human life there, and it is not lawful to take out a human life to solve a problem.“But no, modern thought…” But, listen, in ancient thought and modern thought, the word “kill” means the same thing. The same evaluation applies to euthanasia: we all know that with so many old people, in this culture of waste, there is this hidden euthanasia. But there is also the other. And this is to say to God, “No, I will accomplish the end of life, as I will.” A sin against God the Creator! Think hard about this.

Remember, he was trained as a chemist, i.e. a scientist. You can find the entire text here. The original Italian text is here.

I think I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m a little surprised at the reaction to Rep. Todd Akin’s idiotic and unfortunate remarks on “legitimate rape” and the…

I think I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m a little surprised at the reaction to Rep. Todd Akin’s idiotic and unfortunate remarks on “legitimate rape” and the theory that rape victims’ bodies somehow protect them from getting pregnant as a result of the attack.

All of us say (and do!) stupid things at one time or another. Unfortunately, more of us are caught saying them now that media are omnipresent. And politicians seem to say more than their share of things that shouldn’t have been said, as our Vice President appears all too happy to demonstrate time and again.

Instead, people like the editors at National Review Online and others (cf. Dennis Pragerand Ann Coulter), are taking their cues from The New York Times and NPR, calling for Akin to step out of the Senate race in Missouri. In other words, those who claim to support pro-life causes are essentially making this a bigger issue than it should be.

“There are no words for this — it is just nuts,” said Dr. Michael Greene, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School.

Shouldn’t an expert be able to point to hard facts? Maybe a study or two? Instead, “it is just nuts.” Thanks for the expert opinion.

Here’s the second expert:

Dr. David Grimes, a clinical professor in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina, said, that “to suggest that there’s some biological reason why women couldn’t get pregnant during a rape is absurd.”

Wow. Passing his exams must be easy. His students just have to give opinions. No science here, folks. Just keep on driving. Nothing to see.

The only reference to a reputable study? Here you go:

But several experts said there is no solid data on such issues. A 1996 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, generally considered one of the few peer-reviewed research efforts on this subject, estimated that 5 percent of rapes result in pregnancy.

To say that there’s no solid data is not the same thing as refuting a theory. The rate of births among women of fertile age is about 6%. Adjusting for miscarriage, still birth, and abortions, would make the pregnancy rates higher. The one study offering a 5% rate of pregnancy resulting from rape is hardly conclusive one way or the other.

Interestingly, when searching the terms “nytimes.com stress infertility,” The first ten articles, all from the NYT, included seven which suggested a link between the ability to get pregnant and stress. One article proclaimed no such link. Two were irrelevant.WebMD offers references to several articles supporting a connection between infertility and stress.

Now, if women trying to get pregnant are impeded by stress and the associated hormone factors, I don’t think it’s a far stretch to wonder if women who are raped might have a lesser rate of pregnancy resulting from the rape. After all, being the victim of a violent crime would be stressful, to say the least.

With regard to the use of the term “legitimate rape,” it’s a bad, bad choice of words which belies all sorts of confusion since terms like “date rape” were introduced. It’s either rape or it’s not. If it’s rape, it’s bad.

Is Akin a liability? Perhaps. But he becomes more of one when pro-lifers lead the attacks. If NPR and Mother Jones want to dissect Akin, by all means they can. There’s no secret about their ideological or political persuasions. [I don’t see how an editor at MJ is an expert on the question of conception rates for rape victims, but the experts themselves have set the bar pretty low judging from the NYT piece referenced above.] However, people who are supposed to be on the same side of the issues as Akin should not do the work of his opponents. If there are bigger liabilities than a really bad gaffe, then please enumerate them.

Aside – the whole situation makes all too clear just how defensive people can be when trying to defend a pro-life position. Rape has nothing to do with the human dignity of the fetus. Both the fetus and the mother deserve much better than rape, but neither of their lives is worth any less insofar as they are victims.

So Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) voted for the health care legislation and says that he’s pro-life even though the legislation includes taxpayer funded abortion. Pro-life groups did a good job…

So Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio) voted for the health care legislation and says that he’s pro-life even though the legislation includes taxpayer funded abortion. Pro-life groups did a good job of spreading awareness about the problematic aspects of the legislation before the final vote; so its content, at least on major pro-life issues, is no secret. And no one took the executive order seriously since it has no binding power.

Driehaus isthreatening the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, Marjorie Dannenfelser, with acriminal statute that could mean jail time for taking out ads that publicize his vote. It now goes to the Ohio Elections Commission for a vote. In the meantime, the billboard ad won’t be displayed.

You can see Dannenfelser explain her positionhere, and here’s a copy of thebillboard in question.

Unless I’m missing something, this is petty beyond the pale. His vote is public record and anyone has a right to praise or criticize him for its implications. It should definitely be part of a reasonable conversation as to whether he’s suited for office or whether one should vote for him.

Update – I missed this in yesterday’s news, but the ACLU issupporting SBA List. Strange bedfellows but I’m glad to see some rational unity on the matter.